Protecting elders

The projection that the number of seniors in India will reach 177 million in the next 25 years (“Elders need a fair deal,” June 15) makes us understand the importance of the joint family system that has prevailed in India. Traditional joint families used to take care of members from infancy to old age. No law can play an effective role in any society unless people back it in both letter and in spirit. Traditional values, not laws, should be strengthened if the elders are to be secured.

V.V. Hariprasad,

Secunderabad

The need for geriatric counselling never arose in our society. But now there is a shift towards the nuclear family system. Adults and children should be taught the values of the joint family system.

V. Revathy,

Tiruchi